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Tunnel Visions

Well before NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft lander soars through Titan’s skies, APL researchers are making sure their designs and models for the nuclear-powered, car-sized drone will work in a truly alien environment. The team has been testing its flight systems in wind tunnel facilities at NASA’s Langley Research Center. Pictured here is the half-scale Dragonfly model that was used for the wind tunnel testing.

Photo Credit: Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman

Johns Hopkins APL Dragonfly Team Utilizes Unique NASA Facilities to Shape Its Innovative Titan-Bound Rotorcraft

With its dense atmosphere and low gravity, Saturn’s moon Titan is a great place to fly.

But well before NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft lander soars through Titan’s skies, researchers on Earth — led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland — are making sure their designs and models for the nuclear-powered, car-sized drone will work in a truly alien environment.